Mobile Device Support in the Enterprise - Quite Frankly, There Is None...

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/04/19/17OPconnection_1.html' target='_blank'>http://www.infoworld.com/article/05...nnection_1.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I’ve tangled with complex CRM projects and delivered the goods. With steely determination, I’ve stared down the barrel of enterprise content management projects that have literally made grown men weep. Years after leaving a company, I have responded coolly to panicked calls from former colleagues, quoting seemingly long-forgotten command-line incantations like poetry to help them out of a jam. Tonight, though, I’m tangling with a system so critical that it’s practically an extension of myself. The problem is decidedly unglamorous -- my handheld (a Treo 650) is endlessly rebooting, and I’m off the communications grid. No phone and no PDA means no productivity."</i><br /><br />Chad Dickerson, InfoWorld columnist, magnifies a truth that I think most IS departments don't want to face yet. Each new generation of mobile devices (handheld, mobile phone, mobile convergence device) becomes more and more like miniature PCs in our pockets and yet, most IS shops want to treat it like old cellphone technology (i.e. - "it just works"). Likely, it's going to require some high-ranking executive to go through what Chad Dickerson went through before proper attention is paid to mobile device support. Do you guys see the same level of nonchalance at your company?

[randyzon]

I work for an entity that must have real time information to efficiently perform. I purchased a ppc at my own expense when the HP iPaq 6315 came out last year. This is the future.

I had to purchase Netfront so I could access the internet email because Microsofts Internet Explorer (Lite version, I suppose) would not do the job. Shortly thereafter, IBM modified the Lotus Notes internet access so it doesn't recognize Netfront as an "authorized" browser. WTF? does that mean? Our computer support says that wireless access is not in the contract so there is no solution until someone important asks for it.

Anyway, I still laugh at our region manager. He carries a work cellphone, a personal cellphone, a pager, and a laptop. Like you said, until the managers [who don't very well know how to turn on a computer] wake up and make some automation decisions the computer support people will manage everything....and they would like to be back in the blue screen and more simple day.....so they are going to resist suggesting anything new.

[Tracy Daubenspeck]

PDAs pose a real problem for IT support for most organizations. They are almost by definition non-standard. Each model and brand comes with different capabilites, software, and hardware. In my setting, wireless, IRDA, audio recording, and cameras are banned. We have to physically disable these features for each device thus voiding the warranty. Many organizations don't want "foreign" hardware attached to their networks.

Most of us PPC enthusiasts want the latest-and-greatest, while IT support folks want something that is tried and true. I think that there should be a corporate standard out there for PDAs, but it is wishful thinking.

[bvkeen]

The execs at the company I work for (400 people) would say 'this is not working well enough for me,' IT would say 'it is the best technology there is for now OR the fix is cost prohibitive,' and that would end the discussion.

I do have pity on the IT staff trying to keep up with changing technology and equipment and software that doesn't really behave as it is supposed to, but none of these problems are ever going away until the execs get savvy and knowledgeable enough to work with IT in finding and forcing solutions. I'm not holding my breath on it.

[bkerrins]

I can understand IT has the impossible task of keeping up to date with each and every version. But that doesn't make support impossible. Most IT guys know more in their little finger than I will ever know and if they would at least HELP, that would make me happy. I had to set up an application to allow my emails to be forwarded to my PDA and while my domain name is "easy", it's not something I use everyday in my job. If the IT guys were willing to stop by and help, he could have set the thing up in 5 minutes. I spent half the day. Plus, it pisses me off no end when I ask, "can you help" and I'm told, "no, that's not a supported device." Then when I walk by their desk...they have the same device!!

[SteveNYC]

Well, I'm responsible for the wireless unit in my government agency. We are currently running about 550 lines going from crappy TDMA devices (phasing out) to the newest CDMA Blackberry 7250.

It's nuts.... the idea of providing support is next to impossible. I'm going through new handsets every six months. Forget support, try keeping the things in STOCK! That's why so many IT shops are going with RIM devices. They are NOT the best units out there. But they ARE the most stable (relatively speaking).

I personally own a Sprint Treo 650 that I converted to work on Verizon. I would NEVER attempt to deploy that for my users. It would be almost impossible to support in any large scale deployment. So instead we deploy the 7250 and some 7290's and use BES 4.0. It's the best thing out there.

I would like to work with Good's offering, but in truth, there's not a considerable difference in functionality (in an enterprise deployment).

Heck, most of the people I have to give our latest and greatest phones don't even know what to do with them. They're more eye candy than anything else.

Smartphone technology, with the exception of RIM devices, is not ready ofr large scale deployment's.... at least not in my experience.

For the individual, well, that's different. There's a lot of nice equipment out there and a lot of good services being offered. But then you are your own tech support.

[JMountford]

The question at hand is "does the company you work for support mobile devices"...

I have to say that my company %100 supports all mobile devices with the best technology out there!!!! Now admittedly that is because I work for (arguably) the best mobile solutions provider out there. I am a Verizon Wireless Employee. I am very proud of my company and the technology that we use as well as sell. And now that I am in the Business Channel I see what solutions we can offer to our customers, and part of that is just the knowledge of specialists who can get as technical as any IT department, and are instrumental in setting up Enterprise based mobile solutions.

I am in no way trying to sound like a commercial or a VZW Drone as I am neither. I am a loyal employee, but I also have a mind of my own. I am not here to start an arguement or take a bashing as I am just one Employee among over 50,000. I am just saying that there are companies out there emplementing Mobile Enterprise Solutions. And Verzin has employees and solutions there for any one to use, but many companies do not realize that there are those resources available. I know statics that would annoy and astound the PPC community, but I will not disclose those. Suffice it to say that as a techy I find the general lack of knowledge that exists in business as far as mobile solutions goes is just mind boggling.

[Techtoys]

Our company allows you to use the devices so long as you buy your own device. What they then offer is a Lotus Notes sync solution that gets the corporate e-mail and calendar onto your device - but you have to promise that you will not sync at home any more as this could expose corporate information. It also removes activesync from your PC at the office. There is zero support for the rolled out solution - if it fails you have to hard reset and re-install.
That isn't a good solution in my book, so I manually update my calendar and contacts and book an hour to a non-productive tag each week.
Surprisingly, outside of the IT department (about 1900 of us 8O ) there is very little PDA use. Even in the department there are only about 100 users.

[Lex]

Our sales force was issued -supported- PPCs for sales call data entry and nothing else. The proprietary software is so fat there's too little room to use the PPC as a true PIM. Can't use the Calendar, no voice recording, no Pocket Word or Pocket Excel. We just leave them home on our desks and enter data on our laptops at night. Oh, you have to have them cradled to sync every night. :roll: I own a personal PPC they can't control.

[Phillip Dyson]

I can understand IT has the impossible task of keeping up to date with each and every version. But that doesn't make support impossible. Most IT guys know more in their little finger than I will ever know and if they would at least HELP, that would make me happy. I had to set up an application to allow my emails to be forwarded to my PDA and while my domain name is "easy", it's not something I use everyday in my job. If the IT guys were willing to stop by and help, he could have set the thing up in 5 minutes. I spent half the day. Plus, it pisses me off no end when I ask, "can you help" and I'm told, "no, that's not a supported device." Then when I walk by their desk...they have the same device!!

I work in IT but not in operations. So while I don't provide desktop or device support, I can understand the reluctance of IT or an individual IT guy to offer support for a "rogue" device.

I support software/ business applications that I develop. Its well, known that once you offer support for something that is unofficial, you own support for that device. Then if someone else comes up with one, maybe by word of mouth it only grows. Where does it end?

The IT department has to consider the big picture. Of course this in no way discounts the possibility that your particular IT guy is just being a jerk. :)

[randyzon]

I purchased my own ppc. I don't ask for support because I can get that from my ppc manufacturer. What would be nice is simple access to my corporate email via the internet (from my device) that anyone else can get to with their home pc. Then I would be really grateful if IT would let me know who to go to if their answer is "it isn't my job".

Unfortunately, the senior managers that are ready for retirement and don't care about automation will need to move on before someone can move in that is computer savvy can make educated decisions. :roll:

[Mr. PPC]

I deployed Pylon to our environment and then set our device standard to the XPhone II (previously XDA IIs). If the company buys your mobile (common practise her in AUS, getting less every year though) you get either an XPhone II or a standard mobile (without camera). Our company ONLY supports the XPhone II (unless testing something else) officaly for wireless synching, which means the IT department 'are not allowed' to support any other device that uses wireless synching.

Why have I forbidden the engineers from supporting other wireless synching devices? My network is restricted and controlled (min 14 char password, must use letters (uppper and lower), numbers and punctuation) to make sure everyone has access to their data when they need it, by making sure others (friend or foe) don't cause issues I acheive this. Allowing unknown devices and potentialy unknown apps onto my network goes against everything I am trying to acheive security wise.

Also, the amount of time it takes to assist and try and resolve unknown hardware is excessive. In addition, the user usually ends up grumpy since their problem can't be fixed immediately anyway. By focusing on one piece of hardware my engineers excel at supporting it, they use it themselves. This means rapid resolution and the engineers can interact with other staff because they all use the same device. The engineers look like Gods when they fix the staffs problems so quickly, the staff are happy and my engineers are happy.

[powder2000]

Being that I am an active member of ppcthoughts, I am the support at our local governement. If someone has a problem that our IT can't figure out, I'm the one he comes running to. He's getting more up to speed, but still, I can run circles around him when it comes to pocket pc devices. I think IT guys priority lies in the networking of information (backing up data, making sure the data is usable and making sure the computers can use the data). Pocket pcs are more of a PIM system with a much lower priority. IT departments usually don't have the resources to deal that far down the priority line.

[GadgetDave]

Although I've been a PPC fan for years, I do have to say that I also love my Blackberry. I'm a systems architect for a Fortune 600 company that has deployed somewhere approaching 1000 RIM devices ... and we support them completely. Many of our executives get them and replace phones and sometimes laptops.

What RIM understands - and (unfortunately, IMHO) the PPC and Treo folks dont - is enterprise integration. Their server software puts management tools in front of the people who need to manage them. The security of RIM devices - from IT-approved profiles to the ability to remotely "kill" a device - is second to none. Battery life of up to 10 DAYS (with BOTH phone and wireless email ON) -- and the wireless integration is superb. In fact, with the newest releases you never even have to plug a device into the PC. All the provisioning can be done over the air. If I could charge it over the air, it would never plug in.

I do not work for RIM or sell Blackberries. However, they get the enterprise, where the PPC and Palm devices are still "consumer" oriented - the BB has not gone over nearly as well when Cingular/T-mobile/others have sold them in stores. Because that's not who they're designed for. That's why we like them.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I agree with you GadgetDave, in terms of Enterprise acceptance, RIM Blackberry has the rest of the field in their rear view mirror. However, I do wonder how much longer this can last. Microsoft is focusing on the enterprise mobile segment with more fervor than before with their overall strategy and roadmap of products such as Office, Exchange and LCS.

Enterprise integration will arguably be even a more compelling strength for Microsoft than for RIM in the near future when Microsoft's value will be built-in to enterprise products that most companies already own and support. Functionally, RIM's biggest draw with users was two-fold in the form of push email and the device form-factor. Soon push-email will no longer be an advantage RIM can boast and MS will tout all the extra functionality while appealing to many IT department's wishes to streamline their internal infrastructure. In response, RIM is attempting to bolster their application capabilities by extending (or introducing?) API capabilities onto their platform... perhaps signaling that their platform will no longer remain as simple as it once was.

It's going to be really interesting to see how this plays out. Love them or hate them, Microsoft is a tough player to stay ahead of against once they're focused on a given market segment and I do believe I'm starting to see the seeds of that scenario now.

Either way, more capabilities are going to be pumped into mobile devices within the enterprise leading to the inevitable question surrounding device support...

[bvkeen]

I agree with you GadgetDave, in terms of Enterprise acceptance, RIM Blackberry has the rest of the field in their rear view mirror. However, I do wonder how much longer this can last. Microsoft is focusing on the enterprise mobile segment with more fervor than before with their overall strategy and roadmap of products such as Office, Exchange and LCS.

Enterprise integration will arguably be even a more compelling strength for Microsoft than for RIM in the near future when Microsoft's value will be built-in to enterprise products that most companies already own and support. Functionally, RIM's biggest draw with users was two-fold in the form of push email and the device form-factor. Soon push-email will no longer be an advantage RIM can boast and MS will tout all the extra functionality while appealing to many IT department's wishes to streamline their internal infrastructure. In response, RIM is attempting to bolster their application capabilities by extending (or introducing?) API capabilities onto their platform... perhaps signaling that their platform will no longer remain as simple as it once was.

It's going to be really interesting to see how this plays out. Love them or hate them, Microsoft is a tough player to stay ahead of against once they're focused on a given market segment and I do believe I'm starting to see the seeds of that scenario now.

Either way, more capabilities are going to be pumped into mobile devices within the enterprise leading to the inevitable question surrounding device support...

You have great points here Ekkie. I do think that MS will gain in this market (as it does in every market it goes after), but it will be helped in its market share if it can get its reputation for security problems straightened out. This may take a great deal of effort on Microsoft's part, or it may not, as it's not clear to me that MS's security reputation is uniformly viewed throughout the markets. Their reputation would be of concern to me, but I may represent minority. I don't know. Regardless, good points you've made.